Sacred Art
Definition
The structural-articulation of artistic-creation as contemplative-practice. Sacred Art names the broader contemplative-discipline of artistic-creation cultivated as practice; the discipline includes specific-articulations across many specific tradition-articulations (icon-painting, calligraphy, sand-mandala, sacred-music) and operates through Hekā'i at the practitioner-creative articulation.
Literal meaning
The contemplative-discipline of artistic-creation as practice. Sacred Art articulates the broader-tradition's discipline of cultivating-attention through structurally-articulated artistic-creation; the discipline operates through specific-articulations: visual-art (icons, sacred-painting, calligraphy), music (sacred-music, chant), dance (sacred-dance), and the broader articulation of art-as-practice.
Esoteric meaning
Sacred Art articulates the structural-feature that the broader contemplative-tradition has recognized as *art-as-contemplative-practice*. The structural-recognition is that artistic-creation operates as contemplative-resource when cultivated-with-discipline; the broader Hekā'i articulation operates through Sacred Art at the creative-discipline articulation, and the broader Symbolic Thinking articulation engages Sacred Art at the cognitive-articulation.
Allegorical meaning
A specific-craftsman who creates structurally-significant works through cultivated-attention rather than through routine-production: the craftsman's work operates as contemplative-articulation, the work itself supports broader contemplative-engagement by others, and the structural-recognition is that the cultivated-discipline distinguishes Sacred Art from routine-creation.
Extended meaning
Sacred Art articulates several specific structural-features: (1) The discipline operates across many specific tradition-articulations; iconographic-tradition in Eastern-Orthodoxy, sand-mandala creation in Tibetan-Buddhism, calligraphic-tradition in Islamic-Sufi articulation, the broader cross-tradition articulations of sacred-art; (2) The discipline integrates with the broader Hekā'i and Symbolic Thinking articulations; the artistic-creation operates as cosmic-creative-articulation at the practitioner-articulation; (3) The discipline supports the broader Living Tradition articulation; sacred-art operates as one specific articulation through which the broader-tradition propagates across generations; (4) The discipline integrates with the broader Sacred Geometry, Yantra, and Mandala articulations; specific sacred-art forms operate through these broader articulations at the practice-articulation. The relationship to *Hekā'i*, *Symbolic Thinking*, *Sacred Geometry*, *Yantra*, *Mandala*, *Living Tradition*, *Music of the Net*, and the broader practice articulations is structural.
*Sacred Art* articulates the artistic-creation contemplative-discipline. The article complements *Hekā'i*, *Symbolic Thinking*, *Sacred Geometry*, *Yantra*, *Mandala*, *Living Tradition*, *Music of the Net*, and the broader practice articulations.
Usage
A practitioner encounters Sacred Art in the broader articulation of contemplative-discipline and in specific contexts of artistic-creation work.
Ritual usage
Many ceremonies include Sacred Art creation as ritual-articulation. The broader articulation of icon-painting, sand-mandala creation, sacred-music in ceremonies operates through Sacred Art.
Comparative tradition
Eastern-Orthodox iconographic-tradition. Tibetan-Buddhist sand-mandala creation. Islamic-Sufi calligraphic-tradition. Hindu sacred-art tradition. The various tradition-specific articulations of sacred-art.
Science correspondence
The contemporary research on flow-state in artistic-creation (Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's research).